


Strawberry Cheesecake

by orphan_account



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Emotional Baggage, Gen, Ice Cream, and ice cream, yellow deserves every hug in this cruel world
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-10
Updated: 2019-02-10
Packaged: 2019-10-25 09:40:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,033
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17722745
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: There was something about the Earth, about its cliffs and its shores, about the howling winds and showers of rain, that caused a flame to spark inside Yellow Diamond's chest.It was up to her to extinguish it, by any means.





	Strawberry Cheesecake

There was something about the Earth, about its cliffs and its shores, about the howling winds and showers of rain, that caused a flame to spark inside Yellow Diamond's chest. The uncomfortable warmth would spread like the sting of a sudden blow, an unprecedented hit to her blind side, and despite her many claims (why would a diamond be affected by such an unimportant anomaly?) it was indeed very distracting. The strange sensation was unlike a studied report or a chart- yet she had familiarized herself with it as time continued to pass. Years blended into decades, decades melted into millennium, and what remained was chipped away at by the endless stream of taxing duties, forever requiring her complete attention. It was almost blasphemous to acknowledge it's only been six thousand years. The flame, previously but a tiny flicker had grown into a blaze that could raze the spires of the empire to ash.

It fed upon the conflicting emotions she laid to rest within, the pain and guilt and whatever else she sacrificed, and sometimes gifted to the bottomless pit. It gobbled every sensation into its hungry jaws without hesitation, almost fooling Yellow into letting down her guard and giving her feelings some leeway for the first time in stars know when, tempted to feel something, anything. But the roaring flame kept scraping and scraping, its appetite never sated. It almost brought a wry smile to her lips, a mockery at her own state of constant turmoil.

That same dry smile graced her features as Steven went on about what new endeavor he wanted her to experience. The waves lapped at her boots as the boy gestured excitedly with his hands, going on about "eat" and "right nearby"- Yellow would've apologized for not paying attention, but she wasn't focused enough on anything he was saying, too lost to find the correct pause of his speech that she could use to politely interrupt. Strange, that this small, vulnerable creature singlehandedly possessed the strength to convince White to leave her own head, carrying himself with the air of having done this before.

He had a small palm on her boot now, concern lacing his tone. "Hey Yellow, you ok?" It doesn't catch her off-guard, and she slowly takes in a breath she doesn't need to regain her composure, eyes closed as she kneels down to minimize the vast distance. "I'm fine, just thinking." It comes across as unintentionally callous, her tone, sharp and quick to the point. She doesn't mean to sound rude, she convinces herself, it's just the stress of the trip, her abandoned, constantly accumulating duties beckoning forth from the golden confines of her ship, demanding to be tend to. "You were saying?"

Stars bless his young heart, he doesn't ask, nor comment on her tone. If she didn't know better, she would've mistook his consideration for ignorance, but it was there, he'd noticed. "I was wondering if you would try out eating- Blue didn't really like it, but I wanted to know what you think!"

Eating, huh? Yellow cracks open an eyelid to study his expression- and he is, indeed to her dismay, serious. The sigh she lets out briefly materializes as a thin cloud, echoing the billowing smoke she can feel is just below the surface. Of course Blue wouldn't take kindly to it, she's too reserved and traditional for someone like Steven and his... Earth friends, not exactly a good mix. However, Yellow sees the hopeful look in his eyes and her posture falters ever so slightly. "Tell me more."

The boy almost trips over his own words in glee, childish excitement bubbling through his speech as he details the process to the diamond. It isn't very complicated, albeit a little unsightly, and she can see why Blue had not taken a liking to it. "You have to like, chew it up before swallowing it or you might choke on- wait, can gems choke?" He interrupts himself momentarily with a twinge of worry, before he shrugs it off, an optimistic grin lighting up his face. "Human food is very tiny to you, so it should be safe, and there's all sorts of risk-free foods you can try anyway!"

Her brows raise in a silent question, the information setting in. This "food" business was much more complicated than she had originally predicted, Yellow had to record this all somewhere before it got buried under her immense mental workload. Steven nodded before continuing his explanation, stating, "Humans make food based on what tastes good and what's good for you, there's food of all tastes. Sour, sweet, spicy, there's even really hot food and ice-cold foods-"

Ice-cold.

The fire churned in agreement.

"Those cold foods, show them to me." Yellow interrupted- almost demanding, almost too eager, but above all relieved in a sense.

 

* * *

 

It was a very quiet day for Calvin, the ice-cream truck man. He'd driven around all day, jingle dully playing through the dated speakers, waiting for the inevitable crowd of snotty-nosed kids and rare adults to let him earn his day's keep. Yet, nobody's shown up today, no sir- not a single soul. His truck idled on the road leading to the Funland arcade, and he decided it was time for him to take a well-needed nap away from the grubby hands and demands of adolescent kids. He pulled down his cap before closing his eyes, yawning as he let himself drift into a peaceful sleep.

That, until something very large and fast began stomping across the boardwalk, rocking the truck back and forth. Calvin gripped the steering wheel with a newfound panic, quickly glancing around for the source. Weird things often happened in this small, sleepy town, things that would make you doubt what was real. Less than a year ago he could've sworn he'd seen a pair of giant hands came crashing onto the shore. A hand waving at the driver's window made him jump, before he realized it belonged to a little chubby kid, probably around thirteen. Calvin wiped at the sweat forming at his brow, forcing a quick customer-service smile. Gotta make an impression on the young'ins. "Hey there mister!"

"Hey kiddo, what can I get for ya?"

"I want an ice cream sandwich please, and uh..." he trails off, before glancing off to the side. "Hey Yellow, what do I get for you?" Before Calvin can ask, a massive boot steps into his vision. Taken by surprise he peers out the window to take a better look and is met by a paragon of beauty and radiance, a perfect example of peak galactic performance, glaring down at him with the most impatient look he's seen in his life. The mere intensity of that gaze has him shaking in his seat.

The boy grins like nothing is wrong.

"Whatever is available." A melodious voice with the power to overturn continents booms over the half-hearted wheeze of the speakers, and Calvin barely can tear his frightened, awed attention back to the boy who's reading the list to the side, suddenly perking up. "We'll take a strawberry cheesecake icecream!" Calvin stammered out a vague response, eyes still locked on the massive photogenic alien, before fetching the requested items with quivering hands. He manages to hand both icecreams to the boy without dropping them, a heroic feat, before a wad of cash is handed over to him with a pleasant "thanks!".

He falls down into the driver's seat with an audible flop as the boy climbs onto a giant hand, waving goodbye. Calvin waves back, faint. He promises himself that today would be his last day on this job.

 

* * *

 

It was pink.

The sky was a lovely shade of rose, the sands complimenting it with a lovely reddish-pink hue as the sun set over the horizon. Yellow's gaze traveled slowly across the sky, the sands, and the sun to the small slowly melting cone sitting lodged between a thumb and a forefinger. It was her fault, quite frankly, for not being specific, but it shouldn't bother her anyway. Was she supposed to grieve and mourn at any pinkish splatter of color? That was Blue's duty, if she were to be honest- she thinks with an internal scoff. Her lips are stretched into a thin line as the color taunts her once again, brows knit together, realizing that she had not registered any of Steven's previous instructions, She'd had far too much cluttering her already limited mindspace that it had escaped her grasp. With a questioning glance towards Steven, the pleading inquiry is expressed. He is already halfway through his sandwich, a few splatters on his cheeks as he notices the matriarch's eyes on him. With a small gesture, he explains. "Oh, you do like this-" and stuffs one chunk of the sandwich into his mouth.

Yellow can't help but hesitate as her eyes lock back onto the icecream. The mere idea of devouring it is slightly disgusting and the color's implications still lingers in the back of her mind- but they've gotten this far, and damned be she if she was going to lose to a cup of frozen organic-produced fluid. A diamond had dignity to preserve. With a brief huff she tosses the miniscule icecream into her mouth and immediately bites down, half-expecting it to claw its way back out. It's surprisingly satisfying, the cool sensation begins to spread along through her mouth before it melts into nothing, gone as quickly as it had come, but it sedated the fire ever so slightly. The pinkness continues to engulf her world as her gaze is locked on her empty hand, flowing everywhere as Steven expectantly looks up to her, waiting for her opinion. What was there to describe really, the tiny thing was far too little to cause any real effect upon her, but he waited eagerly, and as she glanced at his hopeful eyes the flame died a little more. Pink's influence seemed to be rooted in every particle of the world around her, it was indeed her planet.

"It was... nice. Really." The razed city stopped cackling for a split second. It was deafening, and it left a question to hang in the void. How long has she been living with this blaze inside her? This inferno of endless guilt and rage and biting remarks and madly whipping at whatever poor soul stood before her?

A gasp. "Really!?" The sparkle of glee knocked the nonexistent wind right out of her. It really hasn't been that long, not long enough, yet a lifetime. Would she ever forget and forgive? Was it time to move on? Pink's gemstone glinted as in response from Steven's abdomen where it lay, right there yet gone forever. Its light seemed to paint the surrounding world in respective color, the rose of the sky fading into indigo, the sands turning baby blue. A color she was so trained to absorb, her element. A calming atmosphere. Pink was really gone. Done for.

Yellow shrugged, the faintest of smiles beginning to grace her features. As if on cue the pit began to lose form, ash settling in. A sharp exhale expelled whatever smoke was left clogging up her insides, and it felt like knocking down seven spires in rapid session, watching their rubble fall down into the dark bowels of Homeworld. Six thousand years of nothing but internal conflict, but a lot of paperwork done at least. They've gotten so far, changed so much. The past was well behind them now, it was only reasonable to move forward.

A hearty chuckle rung through the quiet air before the massive gem let herself fall backwards onto the equally large expanse of sand, causing Steven to jump a few centimeters into the air. "Whoa!" He exclaimed, before Yellow acknowledged him once more. She's on the sand, laughing, if he didn't know better he would've mentioned the tears running down her cheeks. She wipes one of those tears with a finger, gazing up at the sky. "Hey Steven."

"Yeah?" He asks, not sure what to expect from the matriarch who simply gestures towards the last bite of the sandwich, still in his hand.

"You're going to finish that?"

**Author's Note:**

> It is literally 5:07 AM god bless


End file.
